Efficacy of a Primary Care eHealth Obesity Treatment Pilot Intervention Developed for Vulnerable Pediatric Patients

Authors

Joshua S Yudkin
Marlyn A Allicock
Folefac D Atem
Carol A Galeener
Sarah E Messiah
Sarah E Barlow

Publication Date

3-1-2024

Journal

Childhood Obesity

Abstract

Background:

Challenges to treat excess weight in primary care settings include time constraints during encounters and barriers to multiple visits for patient families, especially those from vulnerable backgrounds. Dynamo Kids! (DK), a bilingual (English/Spanish) e-health intervention, was created to address these system-level challenges. This pilot study assessed the effect of DK use on parent-reported healthy habits and child BMI.

Methods:

In this 3-month, quasi-experimental cohort design, DK was offered to parents with children aged 6–12 years with BMI ≥85th percentile in three public primary care sites in Dallas, Texas. DK included three educational modules, one tracking tool, recipes, and links to internet resources. Parents completed an online survey before and after 3 months. Pre-post changes in family nutrition and physical activity (FNPA) scores, clinic-measured child %BMI_p95, and self-reported parent BMI were assessed using mixed-effects linear regression modeling.

Results:

A total of 73 families (mean child age = 9.3 years; 87% Hispanic, 12% non-Hispanic Black, and 77% Spanish-speaking families) completed the baseline survey (participants) and 46 (63%) used the DK site (users). Among users, pre-post changes (mean [standard deviation]) showed an increase in FNPA scores (3.0 [6.3], p = 0.01); decrease in child %BMI_p95 (−1.03% [5.79], p = 0.22); and decrease in parent BMI (−0.69 [1.76], p = 0.04). Adjusted models showed −0.02% [95% confidence interval: −0.03 to −0.01] change in child %BMI_p95 for each minute spent on the DK website.

Conclusions:

DK demonstrated a significant increase in parent FNPA scores and decrease in self-reported parent BMI. e-Health interventions may overcome barriers and require a lower dosage than in-person interventions.

Keywords

Child, Humans, Pediatric Obesity, Pilot Projects, Primary Health Care, Telemedicine, Vulnerable Populations, Texas, Hispanic or Latino, Black or African American, COVID-19, e-health, pediatric obesity, primary care, weight management

DOI

10.1089/chi.2022.0185

PMID

36893214

PMCID

PMC11071101

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

2-27-2024

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes